The Crimefighters
The Crimefighters is a campaign mostly set in Erradan, around the actions of a group of detectives and vigilantes as they fight the rampant crime of the city. E.S.M.A is a clockwork golem originally intended to be an assassin, but who grew a conscience and fled. They trained as a monk in Shavhan, to try and attain enlightenment, and now tries to protect the people of Erradan. Damon was a lawman in the Desert Expanse, but was fired for being too lenient. He came back to the city to see if he could do some good. Coatl is a Hirokiri half-aelf, gifted with a sentient magical sword called Tezcacoatl, which grants him magical powers of poison and decay. He worked as a mercenary across Estiel for a while, before eventually coming to Erradan. This campaign takes place in the year 20.88, beginning in the month of Springward. It is a counterpart to The Escapists Sessions Prologue In the lively warmth of the Tipsy Troll, an old woman enters and sits at a table of working men. They instantly recognise that she's a wayfarer and buy her food and drinks, in exchange for a story. The old woman brings out a pack of playing cards and begins to lay them out on the table as she begins her story, which starts in the very same tavern. 1: Going Broke/Trouble at the Tipsy Troll 20th Springward Brief Summary At the beginning, all the players have various money problems and need a way to make some money. Despite wandering about the city all day, they do not find anything useful. Damon is, however, hired by John Brisbad to guard him and his wife as they go out to drink this evening. All the players arrive at the Tipsy Troll, and John speaks to a man called Edmund Rivers. John is poisoned shortly after. An aggravated investigation leads to a fight with thugs from the Fisher Gang, but they are found to not be responsible for the poisoning. Damon works out that the ice in John's whiskey was poisoned, and pins the murder on Felicia Karselov, the tavern owner. Felicia confesses, and reveals that she did it because John was involved in smuggling guns for the Fisher Gang, who had killed her son Curtis. The players, after much moral debating, decide to get Felicia arrested for a lesser crime so that she doesn't get executed but still atones for a crime. Later that night, Harold Karselov, Felicia's other son, arrives beaten and bloody, and the players help him. 2: Something Fishy 21st Springward Brief Summary Harold reveals that he had gone looking for leads to find the Fisher Gang, but had not been very subtle, and so had been ambushed by them. He gives the players a lead with the name Todd Harwell. The players first go to the Brisbad fishmongers and go through the ledgers, eventually discovering some inconsistencies and a paper trail. They discover a shipping company called Dunfax shipping, which is revealed to be a front, and payments to a man called Laurence Thornby. Later investigating Mr Harwell they find his ship, the Seabearer, but don't find anything too suspicious. That evening they stake out Dunfax Shipping. The Seabearer arrives, and Harwell speaks to Thornby, who is revealed to be a corrupt cop. As the Seabearer leaves, the players chase it in land, and eventually get onto it by jumping off Victoriana's Bridge. They fight the crew on the deck and eventually defeat them all, as the boat arrives at the Rat District. Some investigation reveals a hold filled with guns and drugs. 3: Scuppered 21st-22nd Springward Brief Summary The crimefighter's dock at a nearby jetty, but not the one the boat was going to. ESMA notes some suspicious individuals watching them, and they decide to move the boat to near Victoriana's Bridge. ESMA runs back to the Constabulary while the other two stay behind to watch. She explains to Edward Ironworthy that she found a suspicious boat by the river, not explaining her vigilante actions. Meanwhile at the boat, a Mysterious Figure boards and shoots Damon in the head before stealing documents that incriminate Laurence Thornby, and escaping. The constabulary arrive at the scene and investigate. Returning home, everyone heals and repairs, and on the next day Damon meets a man named Beckett Wakewater, who says he may have a job for him. That evening, the crimefighters delve into the Rat District and navigate their way through. They are attacked by crazy cultists who they later discover to be worshippers of Shoggor, a dark god. They find the Fisher Gang holdout, but find it incredibly well defended. They then encounter Sir Armsworth, who tells them that the Gutter Prince may be able to help them, and takes them to him. The Gutter Prince, Shazad Al-Fadil, turns out to be a friendly person, and tells them that he can offer then a secret entrance to the Fisher Gang Fortress, if they do a favour for him and get rid of the Witch Hunters in the district, who are hunting the cult of Shoggor. 4: Honour Removed 23rd Springward Brief Summary In the morning, the group find Beckett Wakewater waiting for them, who takes them to his house in Esterfield. He then explains that he thinks his girlfriend was kidnapped by a mysterious creature. Her name was Cecilia, and he was very much in love with her. The description of the mysterious figure was very similar to the one that shot Damon. The group go to her address and find that the room she was living in was supposed to be abandoned. Some investigation revealed that she had not been living there, and there was a hidden space under the floorboards where some pages from a ministry document were discovered, along with a note bearing an odd symbol and the words "Don't get involved". The group return to Beckett and discover that the documents were from his safe, where more things were found to be missing. In the evening, the group then decided to go back to the Rat District. They trailed some cultists to their base, and found a person called "The Speaker", who was giving beggars magical abilities. Sneaking in, Coatl and ESMA managed to kill him, which caused the other cultists to lose their abilities. However, in the process, Coatl was cursed with temporary madness. Returning to The Gutter Prince, they gave him The Speaker's body and everything they found on him, to hand in to the Witch Hunters so that they'd leave. Shazad told them that one of his spies, Alexi, would guide them through the secret passage tomorrow. 5: Hearse Confusion 24th Springward Brief Summary The following evening, the group met up with Alexi in "The Drunken Squire", a dive bar in Ratrun street. They make their way stealthily through the district towards the Fisher Gang hideout. A group of Fisher Gang thugs block their path, but they easily deal with them and let none escape. Alexi guides them to the river, and the group dive off the edge and swim down to a tunnel. They sneak through this tunnel and eventually find themselves at a drain grate within the Fisher Gang hideout, an old bank. Most of the thugs there are drinking and playing cards, so the group can easily sneak past. Alexi stays behind. To get inside Coatl uses his magic to destroy a basement door, and they enter through a flooded basement. Sneaking through, the group briefly see the fisher gang boss, Captain Logan, before he heads upstairs. They follow him, and listening at the door, they hear a conversation between him and another person. Coatl teleports into the room and the others follow. The stranger turns out to be the Mysterious Figure from before. A fight ensues, in which the figure shoots E.S.M.A and she is forced to shut down. Coatl defeats Captain Logan, and Damon shoots the Mysterious Figure in the head as he tries to flee. More thugs start to arrive, so the group decide they need to leave quickly. Carrying Captain Logan and E.S.M.A, they jump out the window and go back to Alexi, then return home, but not before dropping Captain Logan off at Shazad's manor. 6: Good Cop, Snake Cop 25th Springward Brief Summary The group gather together the funds to repair E.S.M.A, and take her to "Arm and a Leg", the shop Norman Kay works at. Once E.S.M.A is repaired, they think about their next move. Thinking about how the Mysterious Figure had used arcane magic, they decide they were likely trained at The Tower. They briefly head over to Oldtown to investigate, but find the place incredibly well guarded. Nevertheless, E.S.M.A has an informative discussion with a New Havenite tourist where she learns of a former mage of the tower named Zardell. That evening, the group head back to Shazad's manor to interrogate Captain Logan. After some severe interrogation techniques in which Coatl gets quite violent, Logan tells them that he works for the Cabal. They let him go free after this, although he seems worried that he'll be killed by the Cabal for telling them too much. 7: The Shortest Car Chase 25th Springward Brief Summary On their walk home, the group see a large column of smoke and several shouts from a nearby market square. Curious, they investigate, and witness a group of Witch Hunters with several individuals tied to a stake, and beginning a grim execution. Witch Hunter Lieutenant Alan Marshall seems to be in charge, and there are more cages at the side of the market square, with more sorcerers and such. The group were determined to intervene. Coatl teleports in and uses his magic against the pile of wood, causing it to decay and not light on fire. He then begins defending himself from several Witch Hunters. E.S.M.A follows and aids him. Damon finds a nearby rooftop and begins taking shots from there, taking out several Witch Hunters. He shoots the stake, allowing the two sorcerers held there to escape and aid them. During the fight, Alan Marshall and the Witch Hunter Mage try to escape and go to a car. Also, partway through, a mysterious young man in black clothes escapes his cage, and begins aiding in the fight. E.S.M.A follows Alan and the mage, and tries to pull them out of the car, but is blasted away with magic. As the car starts to speed off, Coatl throws his shortsword at one of the wheels of the car, and actually hits. The car slows, allowing the pair of them to catch up and knock out the two Witch Hunters. They help all the persecuted magic users out of their binds, and talk with them. There are four of them. A young woman called Burned Ruby, a flustered man named Zardell, a bearded man named Macklin, and a young mysterious man who introduces himself as Sebastian the Wanderer, and has an amulet of Shoggor. Some brief discussion reveals that these people aren't safe while the Witch Hunters still have records of them, and that if the Crimefighters can break into the Witch Hunter base and take out the records, they will have the undying gratitude of these magic users. Except Macklin, he just runs away. Coatl agrees to harbour the fugitives at his house, though Sebastian claims to be good at hiding, and also says he knows a place to put Lieutenant Alan and the mage. Later that night, E.S.M.A is on the rooftops overlooking the street near Coatl's apartment, and encounters Sebastian once again. They have a brief chat, before he slips away. 8: Which Hunters? 26th Springward Brief Summary 9: Encountering the Evolved 33rd Springward Brief Summary 10: The Butcher of Whitechantry 34th Springward Brief Summary Meeting again in the Tipsy Troll, the crimefighters are informed of Professor Bespoke's plans by Cecelia. She claims he had a list of people he needed to murder, and that the next one would be soon. She gives them a list she has compiled of his previous victims (based on the large marks left at the crime scene), and the crimefighters begin investigating. Damon, while chatting with an armourer, discovers that the recent murders have similarities to the murders committed by the Butcher of Whitechantry, two years ago. They investigate the murders of Arlin Tristeran, a young aristocrat and student, Natasha Northenwell, a Steiner Institute paramedic, Francis Thomasson, a university professor and evolved society member, and Douglas Matthews, a firefighter. Their investigation reveals that Professor Bespoke is killing people who witnessed an accident he was in four years ago. The victims were killed in a gruesome way, paralysed with some kind of gas and then vivisected, having their organs harvested while they were alive. During the investigation they suspected a noblewoman of following them, so ESMA began trailing her. The other two went to the University to track down the last person who saw the accident, Professor Heather Hendayle. They discovered that she was off sick, so decided to track her down to her home address. 11: Tea & Vodka, Anyone? 34th Springward Brief Summary 12: Unlucky / New Companions 34th Springward Brief Summary The crimefighters drive Professor Hendayle's car to Old Lucivan Manor. After examining the manor, they realise that there are iron bars on the other side of most windows and doors. In the back garden, they find a dog, a Knighthound guard dog wearing some kind of collar. Coatl manages to communicate with it, and make it his friend, in exchange for food. He tells the guard to remain outside. By decaying the door-frame, they manage to break into the back of the manor. Inside, the group encounter a butler in the kitchen and quickly eliminate him. 13: An Intriguing Cameo 35th Springward 14: Movie Night 35th-36th Springward Characters Player Characters E.S.M.A Damon Winchester Coatl Ava'Dor Followers/Friendly NPCs Harold Karselov Norman Kay Edward Ironworthy Beckett Wakewater Cecelia Rouge Carazon "Lucky" Neutral/Unknown Alignment Felicia Karselov John Brisbad Julia Brisbad Shazad Al-Fadil, the Gutter Prince Sir Armsworth Alexi Burned Ruby Zardell Sebastian the Wanderer Professor Heather Hendayle Antagonists Edmund Rivers Todd Harwell Sgt Laurence Thornby Witchhunter Lieutenant Alan Marshall Mysterious Figure The Speaker Benedict Thatchwick Captain Logan Zane "Steelfist" Gallahowe Lindsey Lucivan Lewis Lucivan Professor Oden Bespoke Involved Factions The Erdannian Empire The Constabulary The Fisher Gang The Witch Hunters The Rat Kingdom The Cult of Shoggor The Tower The Cabal The Evolved Society